PALM COAST, Fla. (AP) -- Lonnie Nielsen, a career club professional who had a mediocre PGA TOUR career, birdied six of his last 10 holes Friday for a 6-under-par 66 Friday and one-shot lead at the Ginn Championship Hammock Beach Resort.
Bernhard Langer and Fred Funk were at 67 at Ocean Hammock Golf Club. David Edwards and Gene E. Jones were next at 68 in the Champions Tour's deepest field this season.
Former Masters champion Craig Stadler was among those at 69 and defending champion Keith Fergus and Tom Watson were at 70.
Nielsen played on the PGA TOUR from 1978-83. His best finish was a tie for fifth in the 1979 Quad Cities Open. He worked as a club pro in New York State and qualified for the Champions Tour in 2003. Nielsen has won once, the 2007 Commerce Bank Championship.
He rallied from a double-bogey at the par-3 12th hole, his third hole of the day, and began a torrid run up the leaderboard with an 8-foot birdie putt at the 18th. Nielsen made the turn, then birdied Nos. 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7 to pull ahead of Langer and Funk.
"I'm feeling more comfortable out here," Nielsen said, referring to his progress on the tour. "That's half the battle. It sounds simple, but it's a lot tougher than it sounds."
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